Bullies
by suzie2b
Summary: "This is as true in everyday life as it is in battle: we are given one life and the decision is ours whether to wait for circumstances to make up our mind, or whether to act, and in acting, to live." -General Omar N. Bradley


**Disclaimer:** _ **The Rat Patrol**_ **is not my property. They come out to play sometimes, then I send them home.**

 **Bullies**

 **By Suzie2b**

 **The letter had no return address, but the postmark said it was from Atherton, California. The address on the envelope was neatly typed and definitely said "Tully Pettigrew". He didn't know anyone in California and he'd never even heard of Atherton. Tully shrugged as he left mail call and shuffled it to the bottom of the small stack of letters he held. There was a letter from his mother, one from his sister Beth, and two for Charley from her Aunt Emily and father.**

 **As Tully walked towards home, he read the letter from his mother, who detailed the family's life on the farm and all the local happenings and gossip. As he started up the stairs to the apartment, he tore open the letter from Beth, who had written to tell him that she was learning to drive. She was doing well in school, receiving A's in her classes, with the exception of a B in history. Beth also mentioned she was looking forward to summer break so she could spend more time with her boyfriend. Tully frowned a little as he thought silently, "When did she get old enough to have a boyfriend?"**

 **He went into the empty apartment and dropped the mail on the table. Charley would be glad to see the letters from home when she got back from doing her morning deliveries. Then Tully noticed the envelope from California peeking out from under the others. He picked it up and looked at it again curiously. He started to open it when he noticed the time on his watch. He stuck the envelope in a pocket before strapping on the belt with his knife and grabbing his helmet. Tully had to hurry to meet Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch in the motor pool.**

 **##################**

 **It was hours later, when the Rat Patrol was taking a break on a rocky ridge, that Tully came across the letter again when he was putting the gum from his K-ration lunch in his pocket.**

 **Moffitt noticed Tully staring at the envelope and asked, "Letter from home?"**

 **Tully said, "Nah." He looked at his friends. "Have you guys ever heard of a town in California called Atherton?"**

 **Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch shook their heads. Hitch said, "Do you know anyone in California?"**

" **No. I can't figure out who would write to me from there. Maybe it's a mistake."**

 **Moffitt grinned. "I can't believe there could be more than one Tully Pettigrew in the whole of the army, let alone in North Africa."**

 **Troy said, "Why don't you open it and find out."**

 **Hitch smiled. "Maybe it's from a long lost rich relative."**

 **Tully chuckled at the remark and tore open the envelope. He unfolded the typewritten letter and began to read. The more he read the look of curiosity turned to horror, then to anger.**

 **Moffitt asked, "What's the matter, Tully? Bad news?"**

 **His hand shook slightly as he handed the letter to the sergeant. It was a page long, obscenity laced rant about how the war would be won by the Axis powers and the countries of the allied forces would be taken over. It also went into gory detail about what would be done to anyone caught resisting. There was also a veiled threat against Tully's family.**

 **Moffitt finished the letter and silently handed it to Troy. Then he looked at Tully and said, "It doesn't mention your family by name, Tully. Whoever it is most likely has no idea where you're from."**

 **Tully stood up and started to pace. "Yeah, but what if he does? What if…"**

 **Troy interrupted him, saying, "Settle down. Moffitt's right. This guy's somewhere in California. There's not much chance he'd find your family in Kentucky."**

 **Tully frowned angrily. "But he found me, didn't he? Did he pick my name out of a hat or something? And how'd he know that I'm here, on this base?"**

 **As Hitch read the letter, he said under his breath, "This guy's sick!"**

 **Troy said, "Let's head back to base. We'll give it to Captain Boggs. He'll be able to handle this."**

 **It was early evening when they got back to Ras Tanura and Captain Boggs was in a meeting. It was decided they would wait until morning.**

 **Tully went home tired and still upset. Charley was there, glad to see him as usual. She gave him a welcome home kiss as Tully slid out of his jacket. Charley took it and saw the look in his eyes. "What's wrong?"**

 **Tully sat down to take his boots off with a sigh. "Nothing. Just a long day."**

 **Charley didn't say anything more and went into the closet to hang his jacket up. When she returned she was reading the letter.**

 **When Tully saw what she had, he moved quickly to take it from her, hoping she hadn't read much of it. However, the look in Charley's eyes told him she'd seen too much. "You weren't supposed to see this."**

 **Charley said quietly, "It fell out of your pocket. Who would write a letter like that to you … or anyone?"**

 **Tully pulled her into a hug. "I don't know. I'm going to take it to Captain Boggs first thing in the morning."**

 **##################**

 **In the morning, Tully and Charley had breakfast together and then walked to headquarters. Before Charley went into the office for her deliveries, she asked, "Do you want me to go with you? Maybe the captain can contact my dad…"**

 **Tully shook his head. "No, you just go on to work. I'll meet you later." He waited until the door closed behind her, then turned to go to the stairs. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch walk in. Tully stopped and waited for them to join him. "What are you guys doing here?"**

 **Moffitt smiled. "Moral support."**

 **Hitch said, "You didn't think we'd let you face Captain Boggs with that letter alone, did you?"**

 **Tully smiled slightly. "Thanks guys."**

 **Troy clapped him on the shoulder. "Let's go. The captain should be in his office by now."**

 **Captain Boggs sat behind his desk reading the letter that Tully had given him. The scowl on his face deepened as he read. When he was done the captain looked up at Tully. "When did you get this?"**

" **Yesterday's mail call, sir."**

" **And you don't know who it's from?"**

 **Tully shook his head. "No idea, sir."**

 **Troy said, "Captain, is there any way to track this person down?"**

 **Boggs said, "I don't know. I'm more concerned about the threat to Pettigrew's family. It could be nothing, but I'll contact the police and have them check on things. I'll have to find out who I should call with this."**

 **Tully nodded. "Thank you, sir." He hesitated, then said, "If you don't mind me saying, sir. Charley mentioned contacting her father. Maybe he could help track this guy down."**

" **Colonel Williams? That's a good idea, private. He'd be able to find the proper channels easier than I would."**

 **##################**

 **Two days passed before Tully got word from Captain Boggs that his family was safe in Kentucky and the local police was keeping an eye on things until further notice.**

 **Two weeks later the captain heard from Colonel Williams. He had personally headed the investigation with the help of the police and the postal service in Atherton, California. It was noticed that the small letter "T" was dropped ever so slightly and with some work they were able to trace it to a typewriter in an office at Sacred Heart Preparatory.**

 **From there they tracked down the writer of the letter when one of the janitorial staff at the private school stepped forward with suspicions after hearing about the letter. Mrs. Clark told the investigation team, "It was Joseph Busch. I'm sure of it."**

 **Colonel Williams asked, "What makes you think it's him, Mrs. Clark?"**

" **Well, I've caught him more than once tapping away with two fingers on that typewriter in the office when he's supposed to be cleaning the floors. I'd jump all over him for not doing his work, but he'd insist that after the school closed down for the day was the only time he could use the typewriter to write letters to his family. He does have atrocious handwriting, so I don't argue anymore … so long as he gets his work done."**

 **##################**

 **When Captain Boggs received the expedited report from Colonel Williams, he called Troy, Moffitt, Hitch, and Tully into his office. "It turns out that a janitor at a private school in Atherton is responsible for this and many other letters like it."**

 **Hitch said with disgust, "A Nazi sympathizer."**

" **Yes. He's admitted to writing letters and sending them to American soldiers at bases where fighting is heavy."**

 **Tully asked, "But why me, sir? How'd this Joseph Busch fellah get my name?"**

 **Boggs said, "That's still being investigated, and Mr. Busch isn't being very helpful."**

 **Troy said, "He no doubt was getting help from somewhere. He's not the only one out there who's sympathized with an enemy."**

 **Moffitt sighed. "They're little more than schoolyard bullies, really. Trying to beat down the other kids and force them to give up their lunch money. This one was trying to beat down our fighting men with fear, hoping to give Axis an edge."**

 **Captain Boggs looked at Tully. "I'm glad you came forward with that letter, private. I wish someone would've come forward before you. Then it could've been stopped sooner."**

 **Tully said, "If we allow things like this to happen. If we ignore them in hopes they'll go away, then we're letting the circumstances make our decisions for us. If we act, we live."**


End file.
